ReAwakening
by esverhoeven
Summary: As Sandra catches her love Jasper holding her best friend, she runs into the arms of the only person in as much pain as she is. ExOC JxB. Rated M For Later Chapters
1. The Death of Reason

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Twilight, that wonderful priviledge belongs to the very lucky Stephenie Meyer. But I do own Sandra :)

Chapter One-

It all had happened so fast. In one single moment, one single breathe, my world came crashing down. I suspected that it was bound to happen for awhile now, but I never wanted to come to terms with it. When I looked in and saw my Jasper holding hands and kissing my best friend Isabella, I had no regards for anything anymore, I just wanted to curl up into a little ball and die. It was at that moment that I knew that I had to get away, that I had to go back to Virginia or something, just get away from Forks completely. I ran out of the house, not stopping for anything, not even when Carlisle tried to say something to me. It had all become so apparent and even my life at that point had sickened me. I slowly sank into the driver's seat of my car and sped off, tears rolling down my cheeks, unchecked and unchallenged. I had taken a chance falling in love with Jasper, I had been hurt, kicked when I was down, and lied to, but I did not want to believe that he would do anything to me. When I got home, I just ran upstairs, ignoring my mother calling my name from the kitchen. I threw myself onto my bed and just continued to cry. Moments later, I felt a cold touch on my back and my first thought was Jasper and then the thought came _Vampire or not, I am going to kill the bastard._

"Well then, you are going to have an extremely hard time killing me since for one, I am a vampire and for second, I'm not him," A silky voice said rubbing circles into my shaking back.

It was Edward. I turned around and looked into his face, pain and sorrow clearly etched into every line. I did not mean to threaten Edward, and my face must have shown bewilderment because at that moment, he gave me a crooked smile and that helped to calm me down.

"I....I'm....I'm sorry Edward. I thought you were...." I managed to choke out before he cut me off.

"You thought I was Jasper," He said silently, sitting on my bed staring at me and the tears staining my face, "I may not be able to read Bella's mind, but I can still read yours. And all the pain located within it."

I silently nodded and turned back around, Edward began rubbing my back again in a comforting manner. "I'm not him and I can not understand why he would hurt someone that he clearly had so much love for. The same thought occurs to me with Bella..." When he said her name, I let out a small and vicious hiss, making Edward laugh. "I had been told that you had quite the temper, now I can see it truly."

"Why me Edward? Why when he knew all that I had went through, why would he do this to me?" I said and the tears started flowing again.

He said nothing. He just slowly picked me up and set me onto his lap so that my head was resting against his chest and he started rocking me back and forth, humming a small tune to help calm me down. I don't think that Edward ever said much, unless he was threatening Emmett (which just so happened to be one of my favorite pastimes as well), about flirting with Bella. The thought crossed my mind on whether Bella had ever been with Emmett and maybe that was why Rosalie was so hostile to her and not to me. Edward must have heard my inquisitve thought because he shook his head slowly and went back to humming. I cried silently into his chest while he just continued to rock me. At that moment, my cell phone, began ringing "I'm Only Me When I'm With You" by Taylor Swift....Jasper, the damn Texan. I slowly looked up at Edward and he reached over, grabbed my phone and flipped it open.

"Sandra darlin', talk to me please. I know that you saw Bella and I earlier, I just want to explain it darlin'. I love you so much and I don't want to lose you," Jasper said, sadness and guilt in his voice, a voice that broke my heart all over again, if that was even possible at this point.

"You hurt her and yet you continue to try to inflict even more pain. Don't you know what hearing your voice does to her?" Edward practically screamed over the phone at Jasper. I heard my mother running up the stairs to see what was the matter.

"Mon chere, I heard yelling, what's....oh, hello Edward, what are you doing in my daughter's room?" My mother said softly, a slight tint of anger emphasizing her last three words.

"He is here trying to make me smile mama, nothing is going to happen. I will explain it all later." I said to my mother, offering a small smile, which is all I could offer.

My mother eyed me skeptically, "All right sweetheart, but if I hear anything happening up here, I will not hesitate to call your father." She said returning a small smile. I had always loved my mother's smile, so beautiful and elegant.

"I know mama, nothing will happen." I said reassuringly as I looked at her, standing there with a dish rag in her hand and the other hand on her hip. My mother could be covered in dirt and she would still be the most beautiful woman in the world. I sometimes wondered how someone that beautiful could have given birth to someone as ugly as me.

"Do not worry Mrs. Stuart, I would never dream of dishonoring your daughter," Edward said soothingly, my mother noticeably calming down with his words.

"Merci, Edward," My mother said leaving the room and going downstairs to resume cleaning last night's dinner dishes.

When my mother left, I heard Jasper's voice start again "Edward, I want to talk to Sandra."

Edward then proceeded to hang up the phone and went back to having both arms wrapped around me cradling me softly as he returned to humming. I felt safe with Edward, I knew that he would not hurt me, or at least attempt not to. Why Bella ever gave up on this man, I'll never know. When I said that, his face grew dark and I tried to pull away, but he held me tighter. I guess something about me brought him some level of comfort, which is one more though I would never understand. I looked up into his face and he moved a strand of my light brown hair so that I could stare into his golden-brown eyes while he stared deep into my blue eyes.

"Just stay a little bit longer, please." I said to him and he just smiled in return and nodded his head.


	2. Author's Note

Author's Note-

Ok, I forgot to mention this before the first chapter, so I thought I might be able to fit it in now. Unless otherwise specified, most chapters will be told in the viewpoint of Sandra (the main character), but I am planning on putting things in other people's points of views, just so that every single thought can be expressed and the plot line around Chapter 5, things will be put both in Edward's and Jasper's perspective, so it be shown how both men care about Sandra and Bella and feel the need to protect them both. Thank you!!!!! R&R.


	3. New Definitions

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, it belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

The theme of this chapter is one of my favorite quotes....

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let them go. Things go wrong so that you can appreciate them when they're right. You believe lies so that you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself. And sometimes, good things fall apart so that better things can fall together." -Marilyn Monroe

I must have fallen asleep, for when I woke up, the light of day no longer showed outside of my window, night had descended. Edward continued to hold me, leaning gently against my headboard, while I laid comfortably on his chest. He stayed true to his word by not leaving me and for that I was truly grateful. His eyes were closed and he had a soft smile on his gorgeous face, so I thought that I would leave him to his thoughts and tried to get up when his eyes opened and he looked at me curiously. I tried to give him a coy smile and he just continued to look at me, his grip around me slightly tightening with every movement of my body.

"You were thinking, I didn't want to disturb you," I said sheepishly as he looked into my eyes.

"I was watching your dreams. And what was with the one about the butterfly eating horse in LaLa Land?" He asked with his left eyebrow raised and a suspicious look on his face.

"Oh, that. When I was a little girl, my dad wrote this story about a horse named Rainbow that ate butterflies and lived in a magical world of fairies and happiness. It calmed me down," I said, my cheeks turning redder by the minute.

Edward just gave this light chuckle as his grip loosened around my waist, but this time, I snuggled closer to him. He must have thought that my father's idea of a children's story was amusing because I could see the astonishment on his face that a man could ever think of something that....girly. He must have thought my father was some kind of pansy (not that I had never thought that myself), but the thought made me bury my face into his chest so he couldn't see me blushing intently. I suddenly felt him gently kiss the top of my head as he started laughing hard, not pausing even when I looked up at him with a mixture of fear and shock. His laughter eventually caused me to laugh and we both laid there laughing when he gently picked me up off of the bed so he could reposition his body and sit me back onto his lap, He gently stroked my hair and began to hum again, this song being much happier and lively paced. I loved his humming and once I got the gist of the song, I began to hum along. Just then, my cell phone began to ring again, only this time, neither one of us touched it, being too caught up in the moment. I thought of before I had seen Jasper with Bella, before school was out when Emmett jumped behind me and grabbed me around the waist throwing me on his shoulder and carrying me down the hall, at which point he dropped me off in front of Rosalie and I looked quizzically at her.

_"Why did you send THAT..." I said my head tilting a few times towards Emmett, "after me?"_

_"Well dear, sweet, Alexandra, he was the only one I could find that was willing to pick you up and bring you to me without you killing them. Because if you were put in prison for senseless manslaughter, I might be forced to kill one...or...two...or 30 prison guards. And I wasn't looking forward to the thought of that," Rosalie said, flashing her brilliant smile at me as I shook my head._

_"You could have texted me saying 'Hey Sandra, I need to talk to you, meet me outside of the cafeteria'. Instead, you send the Arnold Schwarzenneger wannabe after me." I said putting my hands on my hip and giving her my best angry look._

_"Well the thought of texting you didn't occur until Arnold was halfway down the hallway. And he was so looking forward to manhandling you with neither Jasper nor Edward around to murder him," She said gently, the laughter beginning to rise in her voice._

_When what I said finally registered in his brain, Emmett said angrily, "Hey, I am not an Arnold Schwarzenneger wannabe! Unless that kinda thing turns you on...then I might consider it." Upon which, Rosalie slapped him. _

I laughed at the memory and Edward must have read my mind because he just shook his head with a big grin on his face. He smiled gently and leaned down to give me a light kiss on the cheek. He went back to rocking me and humming, occasionally looking down to see the complete and utter look of contentment on my face. He slowly set me back onto the bed and got up, brushing the wrinkles out of his clothing, while everytime his hands moved, the shirt became tight across his abs, upon which I could see every single one perfectly, and damn was it hot.

"I should be getting back, Alice will want to talk and we must not dissappoint Alice. Should I tell Arnold you said hi?" He said laughing.

"Yeah, tell him I said that the 'roids will kill his brain, but that I always wanted a guy dumber then me." I said smiling.

"And here I thought that was why you were with Jasper. Damn it, I can never be right with you," He said and I busted out laughing.

I slowly got out of the bed and went over to him and silently hugged him, conveying all my feelings of gratitude into that one hug. I stepped away and towards the door when Edward slowly pulled me back to him and gently kissed me on the lips, leaving me completely vulnerable and helpless. I return the kiss, shoving my body against his, kissing him with all the passion I could muster, at which he lowly moaned and wrapped his arms around me. He pulled away and looked at me sadly and I immediately felt guilty. He still loved Bella and I loved Jasper, both of us wishing that this all was just a dream and that when the morning came, everything would be like it was before, perfectly blissful. I suppose that what Edward and I wished for was just some sanity, some explanation of everything. I could hear heels clicking on the staircase and knew that my mother was coming up to check on us. She slowly entered the door, with all the grace and beauty of a queen and sat down in a chair that I had by my desk, looking at Edward and I with a look on her face that meant she was trying to find the right words for us.

"Mon chere, Edward..."She began, but then paused trying to think carefully of how to word things, "you have spent quite a while up here together, no doubt curled up in each other's arms. What confuses me, is that Edward, you are with Isabella, and Ni-Ni, you are with Jasper."

And there it was, the dreaded nickname. My mother and father had named me Alexandra Lucienne upon birth, and ever since that moment, to my father, I was Alicky and to my mother, I was Ni-Ni. I looked up at Edward, blushing and embarrased and all he said was "What? I think Ni-Ni is cute." _Oh God, just kill me now._

"Mrs. Stuart..." Edward said, but my mother quickly cut him off.

"Edward, you may call me Aurelie, the only one who calls me Mrs. Stuart is my husband," She said, dazzling Edward with a smile, which was no small feat, but of course my mother could do it.

"...Aurelie. Things are not the same as they were. Both Ni-Ni" _oh that boy is SO dead _"and I caught Isabella and Jasper in each other's arms. I came here today to comfort her because I knew that she would be in a lot of pain and that she would think that something was wrong with her. And someone had to tell her that it wasn't her, it was him."

My mother gave Edward the biggest smile I have ever seen from her and continuted, "All right, but just so you know, don't let my husband catch you."

Edward smiled and nodded in acknowledgement as she rose gracefully from the chair and left the room. He slowly lowered himself back onto the bed and pulled me into his arms nuzzling my hair and taking in my scent, which he must have enjoyed because he stayed like that for at least 30 minutes. I wondered what he was doing, but I didn't dare ask for he was too entranced to even notice me or anything I was doing. I slowly pulled the blankets around myself, wrapping my tanned body around Edward's pale one as he continued to breath in the scent of my hair and of me.

"You know what you smell like?" Edward said gently, looking into my eyes.

"No, but I'll imagine that you are going to tell me," I replied smiling at him.

"You smell of the South. Peaches, lillies, and hazlenuts," He said, clearly enjoying the scent.

"Well, I am from Virginia, so it is explainable. You smell like apples, violets, and oak," I said teasingly, letting him know that I can pick up on his scent too.

Being with Edward put me at ease. It always had in some small way, but now it was even more so. He made me feel at home, comfortable, the feeling I only had when I was sitting under the big oak tree in the backyard of our house in Virginia. It was a feeling I deeply missed. He was unlike any man I had ever met. Most men would be off screwing another girl right now after finding the love of their life in bed with their brother, but instead of Edward doing that, he was here with me because he knew the pain that I must be going through. Edward slowly walked towards the window and smiled back at me, a smile that said that he had to go but that he would be back. I nodded my head slightly and returned the smile, looking forward to the next time that I would see him. He slowly climbed out the window and left as I laid back down in bed and drifted into a peaceful sleep. That night, I dreamed of Edward.


	4. Decisions

Chapter 3-

Decisions

School. I hated going back due to thoughts of what would happen with Jasper and Bella. Edward had gone hunting for the weekend, only telling Carlisle of his intentions and why he was doing it, and I had to endure the constant calls from Japer who insisted on leaving fifty voicemails a day. I had decided to get in touch with my Bohemian side by wearing a black sweater dress, black leggings and a pair of black ballerina flats, along with my hair pushed back by a black mesh headband. I thought I looked like I was going to a funeral, it was mom's opinion that I looked pretty...that was always her opinion. I slowly got out of my car and went to walk towards the school when I felt a hand on my shoulder...a cold hand.

"Sandra...darlin', can we talk?" Jasper said in his silky smooth way.

"No, we can't. And don't call me that, I'm not anything to you anymore," I said with all the coldness and hate I could muster into my voice.

Even after all the pain and tears that he caused me, I immediately felt the familiar pangs of remorse and regret for my words when I saw the sadness on his face.

"Jasper...I...," I started, but he cut me off.

"Darlin', please, just let me explain," He said pleadingly looking at me with those beautiful eyes of his, hoping that I would say yes...I always gave in to Jasper.

"I am going to admit myself to an insane asylum for this, but okay. I will give you five minutes, no more, no less, to explain. But, if I don't like the explanation, I won't ever speak to you again or even get near you for that matter," I said folding my arms across my chest and nodding my head once in a stubborn and arrogant manner, which Jasper couldn't help but smile at. It was his favorite gesture that I did when I was mad at him, and it normally led to us being left in a very comprimising position. Men get turned out at the weirdest things.

"Sandra, I don't know if you know or not, but Edward and Bella have been having problems. When they have problems, it causes me to have problems because I can feel all of the emotions racing inside of me because of them and it really begins to pain me. Well, on Friday, Edward was being his normal prude of a self and left Bella hanging and so after he left, I went in to talk to her. Before either of us knew it, we were on the bed together, half-naked and making out. Neither one of us thought of what would happen if we were caught, then again,we really didn't think of anything at that time, we just got caught in the moment. We didn't realize the full destructive effect of what we had done, until you walked in and then ran back out. Then, when Edward's mood changed from the happiest guy in the world, to 'I am going to rip someone to pieces', we knew that he had read your mind and that you and him, would never think the same about Bella and I again. That thought broke me," Jasper said depressingly, looking into my eyes intently, "I love you so much Sandra darlin', and I do not want to have to live my life without you, as long as it may be. You are my life and I would rather die now, then live a thousand years without you."

I honestly did not know what to say. I was completely speechless. If my father knew that, he would have asked Jasper for tips on how to shut me up. All I could do was nod my head slowly and then look at him, trying to find the right words. They could not just be any words at this moment, they had to be the right ones, the perfect ones. I wanted to say "Ok Jasper, I love you, come back to me." But, the other part of me wanted to slap him and walk away never looking back.

"Jasper, I need some time to think..." I began cautiously, finding words and thoughts along the way, "I just don't know what to think right now. I want so bad to just look at you, kiss you, and forget all of this. But, I can't do that, I simply cannot forgive you that easily. I just need some time," I finished, looking into his eyes, begging him to understand.

"Ok, just please don't stop talking to me for another two days. That killed me more than you will ever know. I thrive on hearing your voice daily and not hearing it...I suppose the only reason I continuously called your cell phone was so that I could hear your voicemail," Jasper said pleadingly, his voice laced with a little embarassment at his confession.

"Give me until the end of today, I will have made my decision by then," I replied brusquely."Okay darlin'"

I walked towards the entrace of my school, putting a big smile on my face, despite the pain and caught up to my friends, minus Bella of course _That bitch is dead when I get my hands on her_. My friends asked if my weekend was any better then theirs, and I pretty much told them the truth. My entire weekend, my ass was planted in front of the TV, with a thing of refrigerated cookie dough and chick flicks, mainly The Notebook. The girls knew right away that there were problems in Jasper and Sandra Land, just by the statement about the cookie dough and chick flicks. But, the guys normal response to it was "What is it with you girls, cookie dough, and sad movies?", which made me smile nonetheless. I casually glanced over to the Cullen's little section of the parking lot, to see Rosalie shooting death glares at Bella & Jasper. I was so glad that she liked me, because truth be told, she scared the living hell out of me. I suddenly felt myself being picked up and turned around to be face-to-face with Edward, who looked better since he had gone hunting. He gently kissed me on the forehead and draped his arm across my shoulders and proceeded to walk me to my first period class which was off of the main hallway. A job normally done by Jasper.

"Edward..." I started to say when he put a finger over my lips.

"I know sweet, I know. I can read your mind remember. Just, don't be so easy to forgive, think extremely hard upon the subject before making your decision," Edward said and smiled gently.

I nodded and smiled, letting him know that I had acknowledged what he said. Before I left to go into the class, Edward grabbed me and pulled me into a tight hug. I looked at him completely surprised and he just gave me that crooked little smile of his. When I looked behind him, I realized why he did it. The entire Cullen family stood there, Jasper and Bella included, stopped dead in their tracks. Rosalie shared my look of complete and utter surprise, the name "Edward" playing upon her lips, as she said it three times in a row, silently to herself. Emmett and Alice were smiling away while Alice handed a 100 dollar bill to Emmett, some kind of bet. There were no words in the human language, or any language for that matter that described the confusion and pain on Jasper and Bella's faces as Edward released me. I quickly shuffled into my class to avoid the fight and the continuous akward moment that accompanied it. I didn't think much about my psychology class during it, my thoughts were instead on what I was going to do about Jasper, and the fact that I loved being in Edward's arms. His scent was intoxication. As soon as the bell rang, I sprang out of my seat to try and avoid both Edward and Jasper, who when I left the classroom, were outside of it arguing in hushed tones, no doubt about me. I sped off to my next class before either one of them even realized it. I bumped into Mike Newton and I would have fallen back had he not caught me in the nick of time, and then, the REAL fight began. Jasper had noticed that I was no longer in the classroom, and him, knowing my schedule, sped off to catch up with me, Edward following him. And both of them saw me in the arms of Mike. Jasper was the first to react, coming over and ripping me out of Mike's arms while checking to see what he had done to me, and Edward just froze, giving Mike the "You're not living to see tomorrow" look. Both men cared about me, but neither one understood what had just happened, so I got out of Jasper's arms and went to stand in front of Mike in a defensive manner.

"Jasper, Edward...CALM THE HELL DOWN! I bumped into Mike and I would have fallen backwards had he not caught me first. That was why I was in his arms, because he was saving me from falling. Now if you will excuse me, the testosterone in here is getting to be a bit much for me and I have a class to get to," I said and began to walk off.

I left them standing there with stupified expressions on their faces, not really knowing what to do about what I had said. I heard Jasper and Edward both apologizing to Mike, which I am thankful that they did. Lunch was the toughest time of the day, I had to deal with constant lovesick looks from Jasper, and then hearing him wince in pain as either Edward, Emmett, or Rosalie kicked him under the table, once or twice all three did it at the same time. I didn't want to sit with them, I was perfectly happy wedged between Jessica and Angela, which gave me a bird's eye view of the outside and how perfect today should have been, but wasn't. Things would never quite be the same, at least I wouldn't. My grandmother had called from Virginia last night and expressed her wish that I spent the summer with her outside of Richmond in the family homestead, well, the new one at least. The one she lived in, the old plantation that my family had owned for close to 250 years, needed work done...bad. So, she had been forced to take haven in the modern day home that my father had bought 4 years ago, right before we moved. I almost thought of taking the offer, the offer to be back in the place I loved so much. My thoughts were interrupted by someone softly saying my name. I slowly came out of my Virginia dreaming trance and looked straight into Bella's face. And then, I did something that would make my father proud. I bitch slapped her. The entire world ceased to exist at that moment and all things in the cafeteria stopped, everyone just looking at us, the slap echoing throughout the large room. Mike, recovering from the incident first, put his hand on my shoulder and led me towards the door, so that I did not kill her. Bella just continued to stand there, completely shock-ridden about the matter, with Edward and Jasper just eyeing each other, wondering what to do. I knew I was furious, it was a condition of what had happened Friday, and I didn't mind it one damn bit. I went through the rest of the day without a problem and went to get into my car when I saw Jasper standing by it. He just smiled at me sheepishly as I went to grab ahold of my door handle. I knew that he wanted to hear what I had decided about him, about us. I unlocked my car and threw my bag and books into the back seat as he continued to just look at me, pleading with me.

"I could not think of anything other then you today Jasper, all through my classes, you were the only thought in my mind. I thought about that time we shared down by the Sol Duc river, when we first kissed, and also about that time when you almost caught my mother's kitchen on fire trying to make me grits. They are memories that I will never stop cherishing. But, even with those memories, the memory of you and Bella, tangled on your bed together flashes into my mind. And one bad memory is enough to do an entire plethora of good ones. I just can't do this Jasper, I need time to heal and I can't heal from that in two days. I'm sorry, but, I can't be with you anymore," I said sadly as the tears started to form.

"It's okay darlin', I understand. But, in any case, I'll always be there for you, no matter what path you take in life, I'll be there," He kissed my forehead and walked silently back to the rest of the Cullens.

At that moment, my heart was in more pain then it ever was. All I ever wanted was Jasper, forever. And now, he was gone. I knew it was what I had to do, I knew that there was no other way, but that did not stop the pain, the complete agony that it brought with it. I slowly got into my car and just cried against the steering wheel, banging my head off of it as I started the car and drove away from the broken pieces of my life. I turned on the radio trying to drown my own pain in my head and the worst song in the world came on at the worst possible time.

_Oh, I know I could say were through  
And tell myself I'm over you  
But even if I made a vow  
I'd promise not to miss you now  
And try to hide the truth inside  
I'd fail cause I, I just can't live a lie_

Could I forget the look that tells me that you want me?  
And all the reasons that make loving you so easy  
The kiss that always makes it hard to breathe  
The way you know just what I mean

No, I can't learn to live without  
Ohh, so don't you give up on us now 

The song playing brought an entire new round of tears and by the time I got home, I wasn't even sure if I did the right thing. And there was Edward, sitting perfectly on my doorstep and I ran into his arms, crying into his chest while he rubbed my back comfortingly, like he was probably used to doing by now. He just continued to hold me while I cried, not having to say anything because he could hear it in my head. He gently kissed the top of my head and laid his cheek against it. At that moment, my mind was made up...I was going home, to Virginia. And no one was changing that thought...ever.

A/N: The song is "I Just Can't Live A Lie" by Carrie Underwood. I thought that it was perfect for this moment. for some reason. Odd peole have odd thoughts I guess.


	5. Well, She Said Yes

Disclaimer: Last chapter, I forgot the disclaimer...so, for Chapters 3 and 4, I do not own Twilight, it belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

Edward's POV-

Sandra had been through so much pain in the past two weeks since her breakup with Jasper, and yet seeing her with her older brother, you would never know it. Nick had a way of cheering Sandra up, even when she wanted to nuke half the world (or just Jasper's little section of it.) I might have even supplied the nuke for that. She was absolutely amazing. I had stayed with her, to let her know that I would be here for her, even when the world seemed to go against her and her thoughts completely mirrored the appreciation that her face showed everytime she looked over at me. She had her cell phone off, as to not be disrupted by anyone, while her and Nick made brownies for their little brother's boyscout troop meeting later on that evening. Although, I'm not sure where most of the brownie batter ended up, it was either on the walls, in their mouths, or in the actual pan where it was supposed to be. Without even thinking about it, I went over and kissed some brownie batter off of the side of Sandra's mouth. Sandra tasted wonderful, the brownie batter, not so much. But, I suppose to them, it tasted heavenly. Her older brother just smiled and left the room to give us some time to talk, and I suddenly felt a lot better about him then the rest of Sandra's family, minus her mother of course.

"I'm sorry Sandra. It was extremely rude of me to do that without your consent. I hope that you can forgive me," I said to her looking at the ground.

"Edward, if I was mad, I would have yelled at you before Nicky even left the kitchen. I'm just a little ticked that your mouth did not move a little to the right," She said as she went to go get another box of brownie mix, half of which would probably end up in her mouth again.

"I don't want you to leave. If you went to Virginia, I would be forced to go with you," I blurted out waiting for the shocked expression or her yelling at me about my selfishness, which I was used to with Bella. But this wasn't Bella, this was Sandra...and Sandra had her own thoughts.

"I'm not going back to Virginia. For two reasons mainly. One, my friends. It took me so long to make friends here and I don't want to leave them just because of two people out of 3000 pissed me off. And two, you. I realized about a week ago that if I left, you would leave your family to be with me. And I could never ask you to do it, nor could I be in any way responsible for it. Just the pain from Esme over it would kill me. So, for now, I decided that I would stay here in Forks rather then run back to Richmond or back to Virginia in general with my tail between my legs. That is my decision and I am sticking to it...until Jasper pisses me off again, then it's Richmond or Bust," Sandra said very matter-of-factly, and I hugged her tightly due to her decision. "but, my mom and William, along with Andrew, Courtney, Jacob, and Christopher are moving to Port Angeles. They need a bigger house. I mean, Nick, Andy, and Jake are sleeping in the guest house, in one bedroom, it just isn't right. So, I was wondering if you wanted to come with us since William isnt here. Nick and I are staying here in Forks at this house, because I don't want to leave because I wouldn't get to see y'all as much."

"I'd love to," I said smiling as I wrapped my arms around her waist and Nick came back into the kitchen.

"So lovebirds, can we finish the brownies or should we just dump it on Sandra so you can lick it off Edward? Because if that is the case, make sure I'm halfway to Seattle...or at least in the guest house before you do it," Nick said causing Sandra to blush terribly and me to burst out laughing. That was why Nick was the best brother Sandra could ever have. Sandra is his little sister and he isn't overprotective of her, Sandra hated that, which is why her and Andrew didn't get along as well as her and Nick did. _Maybe that's why everyone always told me to take lessons from Nick._

Sandra must have read my thoughts, because she just smiled meekly as she poured the batter into the pan and started banging it on the counter to even it out, and as I predicted, a good amount did end up in her mouth again. Nick was the one who bent over to put it in the oven, shaking his ass at me. I started laughing and Sandra just smiled away, walking into the living room to arrange things while shaking her head. She knew that Nick was a joker about everything, which he attests to getting from his father. Sandra and Nick never really talked about Nicholas Sr., mainly because Sandra couldn't remember him as she was only three months old when he passed on and Nick just did not like reliving the memories. But, from the pictures that Sandra's mother had been showing me over the past couple of weeks, out of the four children that her and Nicholas Sr. had, Sandra and Nick looked the most like him. Nick was his father in younger form, and Sandra had his chin and nose and overall facial structure, but Sandra had her mother's eyes, a deep blue, the color of the ocean. But, Sandra had something that neither of her parents had. She seemed to have a glowing characteristic to her face, that made her all the more beautiful. I think it was why Jasper was originally attracted to her, because of that glow. She started to happily whistle some classical music, and from listening to it, I recognized it as Mozart's Lacrimosa. She continuted to hapilly re-decorate her mother's living room for when the boys were there, and in her head I could hear her thinking that the boys were re-arranging it after the big party. Her youngest brother Chris, looked a lot like his father William, and acted a lot like him too. Sandra always said that he was going to become a Darth Vadar wannabe who went to every single Star Wars convention within 100 miles of him someday, a thought that always made me laugh, especially when Nick and Andrew heartily shook their heads in agreement. But Jacob, the older one, was a lot like Sandra, kind and patient to a fault. That was what I loved about her most, her kindness, she didn't really hate anyone, she just listened to them before passing judgement. But now, standing here watching Sandra happily re-decorate things, my world was perfect. I had this beautiful, wonderful girl who I could talk to all day long, a girl who was living, breathing, and with no health problems at all. I would not jinx myself and say that nothing could go wrong, because a million things could go wrong, I was just hoping that they didn't. For now, I was going to seize the moment and tell this girl how I felt.

"Can I ask you something?" I said looking sheepishly at her, as she slowly stopped moving things to come over and stand in front of me.

"Yeah sure Eddie," _I secretly loved it when she called me Eddie, _"what is it?" She said in that beautiful melodious voice of hers, that could light up a thousand nights.

"Alexandra Lucienne Stuart would like to be my girlfriend?" I asked rather shyly and to my astonishment, she smiled gently and nodded her head gracefully and in her mind I heard the thought _Geez, I only thought that your full name was used in a marriage proposal, not asking someone to be your girlfriend. Clearly, 1918 was very formally done_.

"Yes, I will. As long as you are aware of the fact that I will not subject myself to being treated like a porcelain doll...is that clear Mr. Masen?" Sandra said waiting for a response, and smiling when she saw my smile pertaining to her using my human name.

"As clear as anything in the history of the universe ever has been. If you could survive being with Jasper for six months, with him having the hardest problems with his...vegetarian lifestyle, then I think that you can survive a few kisses and touches now and again from me," I replied, as I continued to smile at her looking into her serene ocean-colored eyes.

"HEY HEY HEY, Let's leave the talking about the kissing and the touching OUT of the conversation until I am 300 yards away," Nick said from the kitchen desperately making me laugh, "I mean c'mon Edward, she's still my little sister."

Sandra just smiled shyly at me as her older brother continued to carry on in the kitchen about Sandra and I having no respect for his mental health at all, with Sandra asking "what mental health Nicky?" and him responding "the mental health I lost when I heard you and Jasper...umm... let's not go into that, it's not a memory I want to relive". Sandra and Nick loved each other, they were each other's favorites. But, Sandra always held a special place in her heart for Andrew as well, because as much as they fought, Sandra made it quite clear to Nick and me both, that if the situation every required it, she would sacrifice her life so that Andrew could keep his. They were still brother and sister, and Andrew was closest in age to her, which is possibly why he felt more protective of her then Nick did. Nick had at least 3 years on Sandra when she was born, compared to the 1 year that Andrew had. Andrew had moments where he saw Sandra curled in my arms falling asleep on the couch and he just huffed angrily, walking into the kitchen to get a soda or to complain to Nick, who you could hear silently explaining to him that I was the only thing keeping Sandra calm and that Andrew needed to shut the hell up and live with it, because he was not going to watch me cry my eyes out every night just because Andrew couldn't deal with me having one arm wrapped around Sandra while we watched a movie. And then, I snapped out of the memory when Sandra said something that I knew would eventually come up between us once she became my girlfriend.

"Bella was not as weak and helpless as you thought Edward," Sandra said rather quietly,

"I know that darling, I realized that all too late," I said gently, and then I saw a pained expression on Sandra's face and I knew that I had done something wrong and what's worse is I knew exactly what it was.

Her face continued to show that agonizing pain, twisting her beautiful features into one jumbled mess of sadness and despair, much like her face had looked after she caught Jasper and Bella tangled in the bed together. The first mistake I had made was that I mentioned the reasoning that drove Bella into Jasper's arms that day and drove him out of her life. And the second mistake I had made was that I had called her darling. Jasper had made it quite clear that Sandra was _his_ darlin' and _his_ darlin' alone, and Sandra had made it quite clear that she never wanted to be called that again after her and Jasper were over, but at the time it was a split second decision and I had not even thought about it before I had committed the act. The pain on her face quickly dissappeared as Nick came into the living room, Sandra obviously not wanting to be dragged into the kitchen by Nick to go under a Nazistic interrogation scheme so he could discover the reasoning for the pain etched into her beautiful features. She was back to bouncing around the living room arranging things with Nick and I enthusiastically helping her, while we both picked on her when she stubbed her toe or did assorted other things that led to her being in brief physical pain, which was always better than emotional pain for her, or so she assured us. When the living room was too her liking and fit to house a troop of ravenous boyscouts who were going to be introduced to the world of Sandra's triple chocolate brownies, I pulled her onto my lap and she rested her head on my shoulder, with me lowering my face to smell her chestnut colored tresses.

_You know Edward, you do not have to be so careful around Nicky. He doesnt' really care about any of it at all, he just does not like having you discussing what goes on between us when the lights go out. That would be like Alice and her beau discussing it in front of you or Emmett._ I surpressed a low growl at the thought and that reaction made Sandra smile smugly because she knew that she had made her point and that I realized she was right. Damn that woman was hot when she was gloating about being right.

"I know sweetheart, but you and I come from different times and I feel a sense of honor towards a woman's brother and feel the need to be careful around him because me holding you upon my lap before marriage or even during it in public in my time would have meant certain death...or permanent paralysis if the female's brothers found out," I explained carefully, not wanting Sandra to get angry at me, though I had to admit she was beautiful when she was angry, then again, she was beautiful all the time. I could see why Jasper wasn't willing to let her go now. Instead, Sandra just smiled

_Well, in your case, given Andrew's hatred towards anything that touches me or even comes near me with testosterone in it, that fear might not be so far fetched. _She thought jokingly, knowing very well that Andrew could never hurt me no matter how much he tried.

"The part about him trying might be rather comical," I said and Sandra scowled at the thought of me hurting her brother, even though she was the one who hit him in the back with a cast iron frying pan last week for expressing his views about the fact that given my extensive knowledge of all things fashion since the beginning of the 20th century, that I might be gay.

_If you dare hurt him Edward Anthony Masen Cullen, I shall never speak to you again for as long as I live. _Sandra thought rather pointedly, and I had to wait until Nick had formally made his exit from the house to go take a shower in the guest house to make my reply.

"Well then, I might just have to talk to Emmett or Carlisle about chaging you. Because yes, you might be able to go 80 years without talking to me. But, what about going 100 or 200 years? You'd eventually get so tired of not having me in your life that you'd talk to me," I said smirking all to evidently pleased with myself over the baffled expression on her face.

"You are a cruel man Edward Cullen," She finally said crossing her arms and sliding off of my lap.

"And you Alexandra Stuart, are an even crueler woman,"


End file.
